By his side: a Ninjago Fanfiction
by TLFScarheart12
Summary: requested by Zoeythepinkninja. Zane has an out of body experience where he sees himself turned to evil. He doesn't know whether this is a dream or a vision but he none the less is shown just how loyal his fellow ninjas are to him.
1. Chapter 1: Storms and Bones

CRACK!

Zane bolted upright instantly awake as a thunderclap rang through the dojo. The wind howled against the walls and trees whipped around outside. Rain pelted against the window.

Zane fought the urge to flee the room. It wasn't that he was completely afraid of thunderstorms but they made him uncomfortable. He preferred when thunderstorms came during the day and he could stay close to his friends for his ease. But it was late and Zane didn't want to wake anyone. He'd just have to ride it out alone.

CRASH!

Another lightning bolt closely followed by ear splitting thunder occurred. At the same time Zane heard the door to his room open. He turned quickly half expecting the wind to have blown the door off. Instead he saw Cole standing there in his black striped pajamas.

"Cole! What are you doing up so late?" Zane asked.

"No one in this dojo is going to be sleeping through that storm," Cold told him, "Anyway I thought you could use some company."

"I could," Zane admitted nodding slightly, "How did you know?"

"I've got eyes Zane," said Cole sitting down beside him, "I've seen how durring thunderstorms you stay close to us. IT doesn't take much to figure out they scare you."

"I'm not scared," Zane said a little down heartedly, "I just don't like them. They bring bad memories."

"Of what?" Cole asked sincerely.

"Well, I told you that I've never really had a home," Zane explained, "This also means I've never really had proper shelter. I have built myself small shacks over the years, but they weren't strong. When a storm came I often had to flee them or they'd collapse over me. So many storms I spent huddled under an overhanging rooftop."

"Sounds miserable," Cole said sympathetically.

"It was. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to be here now," Zane told him.

"Yeah no chance of this dojo toppling over in a little breeze," Cole said with a small chuckle.

Confused, Zane cocked an eyebrow at Cole, "You have a very odd definition of a little breeze."

Cole stared at Zane before rolling his eyes.

Zane didn't understand. This wasn't the first time the ninjas had done this and he never understood what the gesture meant. Perhaps this was just a gesture friends did to each other from time to time.

In honesty he had so little experience with companionship that he really did not know. This team of ninjas was the only real friends he'd ever had. To the people in the villages he'd lived in before, he was just a stray who could do a few tricks in order for enough spare change to feed himself.

The thought brought a tear to Zane eye. He quickly wiped it, but not soon enough to keep Cole from noticing.

"Storms really make you that upset, huh?" he asked.

"Floods of water are nothing compared to floods of memories." Zane told him.

"Try to put it all behind you, Zane. That's all over now. We got your back should anything happen again. Remember that." Cole said firmly.

"I will" Zane promised.

Cole stayed with Zane until the storm passed. Neither of them got much sleep and judging by the bags under everyone eyes the following morning, neither did anyone else thanks to the storm.

"Man, I didn't think that storm would EVER end," Kai said with a yawn during breakfast.

Zane looked over at Jay who was sleeping in his rice. Zane gently shook him awake and jay say up some grains stuck to his face and hair. Kai and Cole laughed as Jay brushed them off chuckling with embarrassment.

Zane looked over at their Sensei. Normally he would laugh with the others at times like these but today he did not and he looked worse than the others.

"Are you well, Sensei?" he asked.

The others stopped laughing and looked over.

"I am fine, Zane. Lack of sleep simply hits me harder than it does the rest of you due to my age," Sensei Wu told him.

"Perhaps you should take a day of rest after training," Zane suggested.

"Thank you Zane, but I can't. There is an errand I must run."

"We can go," Cole offered, "Just tell us what you need."

"Very well…in the forest of tranquility there is a shrine. Some Deer go there to die. When they do, their bones become what I burn in order to create seeing smoke."

"Doesn't sound so hard," Kai smiled to the others.

"Yeah we can do that," Jay agreed.

That afternoon the ninjas headed off on dragon back. They flew close to the tree tops so they could look down and spot the shrine.

"I see it!" Jay said pointing.

The ninjas landed and looked around.

"This looks like the place Sensei Wu described. Look at all the deer bones," said Kai impressed.

"Zane you okay with all the death here?" Cole asked sounding concerned.

Jay and Kai turned to face Zane.

"Cole has a point last time we were in a place with a lot of dead things you got really bad," said Jay, "You were nauseated and almost threw up at one point. You said it was because you're a seer. Is being a seer here going to…"

Zane cut off Jay's babbling by calmly stating, "This is different. These deaths are of natural causes. They do not emit as much negativity as one who is killed."

This reply seemed to ease the others' minds.

The ninjas started to collect the deer bones for Sensei Wu. Zane leaned over to pick one up. But as soon as he touched is Zane vision went pure white.


	2. Chapter 2: Watching himself

When Zane's vision returned he was no longer by the dear bone. In fact he was no longer in the forest. He was in a large city. He looked around. Ninjago City. He'd never been here before but he'd heard of it. It had technology in it similar to what Jay strived to make. Most technology had not hit the part on Ninjago the ninjas lived in, though people were getting new things as timed passed. Zane suspected it would not be long.

'Why am I thinking about this?' Zane scolded himself. I need to find out how I got here and how to get back to the others.

He picked a direction and started walking. With lack of a river like he usually used, he let his instincts guide him. His abilities as a seer made them strong. Sure enough before long he found the others.

They were huddled and they weren't in their usual uniforms. They were in clothes you'd see any average person wear. They had grim expressions and were talking in hushed tones as if planning something.

Zane beamed. They must have been looking for him.

"Hey guys I'm right here!" he shouted running up to them.

But his friends did not appear to hear him. Zane was confused. He had spoken quite loudly.

"Hello?" he tried again.

Still nothing. Zane reached out to Cole who was closest to him. He intended to tap his shoulder but his hand went right through him.

Zane stepped back in shock. What was going on? Was all this a dream? It was the only explanation Zane could think of. But why were his friends looking so down hearted.

Zane decided to listen in.

"I don't want to admit it any more than the rest of you," said Jay, "But it's not Zane anymore. Whatever happened to him has turned him against us and everything he once stood for. We have to fight him like we would any other enemy, whether that enemy be lord Garmadon or the skeletons or…"

Zane stopped listening to Jay's rambling for a moment. Something had turned him against his fellow ninjas? Zane now hoped that this was a dream and not a vision.

"Jay we can't just attack him like that. He's our brother." Cole cut him off.

"I hate to say it but I agree with Jay. Zane isn't Zane anymore. I don't know why, but he isn't," said Kai.

"Exactly," said Cole. "We don't know why. Maybe if we find out why we can find a way to bring back the Zane we know and love."

"Doing that still means beating him though," said Kai, "We'd have to subdue him somehow."

"Anyone got a plan?" Jay asked.

Before anyone could answer beam of ice hit the center of the triangle the three ninjas made. Zane looked up and saw himself hopping from window to window attempting to freeze solid everyone in sight with beams of ice from his shurikans.

Zane stared in shock. Why on Ninjago would he do such a thing? What had these people done to him? He looked to his fellow ninjas. They had their own golden weapons out. Now I know I'm dreaming Zane thought. Not only would Zane never do this but whenever the ninjas fought in his dreams they did so with the golden weapons.

Kai and Cole leapt up towards the white ninja they attempted to knock him off his balance with the flats of their blades. But the evil Zane dodged and the weapons clashed together.

The evil Zane laded in front of Jay.

"NINJAAAGO!" Jay spun into a tornado of lightning nearing nabbing the evil Zane up in it. The evil Zane flipped out of the way and froze Jay in mid spin.

The others leapt down and Kai managed to defrost Jay with a tornado of fire. Jay's outfit was soaked but he was unharmed.

The evil Zane then fled the area.

"GR! Lost him!" Kai said angrily.

Zane's mind buzzed with questions. Why had the ninjas not been in uniform this whole time? Why had his dream self suddenly turned against his team?

The other three ninjas left upon seeing Nya beckon them. Zane was about to follow when he paused. He shouldn't go that way. Something would mess up if he did. He should follow his evil self. He sensed it.

Without hesitating, he ran in the direction his evil self had gone.


	3. Chapter 3: Zane Knows Himself

Zane looked around. Which way had evil him gone? Ninjago city was huge. It could take him hours to find anyone without a general direction as to where to look. There were hundreds of streets allies and buildings where his evil self could hide.

Hide…the one thing Zane had done so many time even before becoming a ninja.

This is me, he realized my alignment towards or against my friends would not affect my decisions in direction. With that he simply began going to way he would go. And Zane would stay away from the main streets. He'd go where there were few people. And he'd keep going until there were as few people as possible. Basically it was going from smaller street to smaller street. Small meant less people.

Sure enough eventually he found himself. His evil self was tucked between two buildings. Zane remembered he would often hide in places like these when he was on his own and trying to escape someone who meant him harm. Now for the first time he saw what others saw when they passed him by. Zane could certainly say this. In the times he had done this he could not have looked less like a powerful seer. In fact he simply looked pathetic.

Zane wall jumped to the roof so he could watch his evil self without being spotted. He lay down his eyes peering over the edge of the roof positioned so he could quickly draw back is needed. From there he watched and listened.

"Stupid ninja," his evil self muttered, "They laugh at me the whole time I know them but when it comes to actually doing me harm, they are wimps. They should fight like the ninjas they are."

Zane eyes went wide. Why was his evil self so angry? What had the ninjas done?

"I guess I'll have to just attack what matters to them most: Ninjago itself." evil Zane continued, "That'll prove to them my true power. That the side I have chosen is the one they should choose if they plan to reach their true potentials."

True potential? Sensei Wu had spoken of this from time to time but had never truly told the ninjas what he meant. Only that it was the peak of the ninjas' powers and physical strength. It apparently was something great.

"This power…it can control so many. Why shouldn't it. They want them safe from Lord Garmadon's control. The safest place would be in another's control." Evil Zane growled to himself, "I'll enslave Ninjago…I'll force those ninjas to join me…no one will stop me."

Zane lay flat on the roof he was on. He couldn't believe his ears. He now had more questions than ever. The biggest of these was what had gotten into him. Zane would never wish harm or control onto innocents and especially not onto his fellow ninjas. Yes, they laughed at him at times. But they were his closest friends and had stuck with him through things others had abandoned him to face alone.

That was it! His friends had to be the solution to this. His friends had to remind Zane that they were on his side whether or not they agreed with his ideals. That alone would break through to the real Zane, if any of that Zane remained in the body he had been watching.

But how could he tell the ninjas that? He was only watching this happen.

"These are my closest friends," Zane told himself, "They know me better than anyone and have known how to help me in the past. They will discover this fact. I just have to be patient."


End file.
